The present invention generally relates to silage pile defacers. Silage is typically stored on the ground in a large pile. The silage pile is usually covered with a plastic sheet to minimize air and moisture exposure to the pile, which prevents spoilage of the silage. One end of the pile is uncovered for removal of a daily feeding volume of silage. A generally vertical layer of silage is removed from the exposed face of the pile to form a feed pile at the base of the silage pile. Typically, a front end loader or similar implement is employed to scoop up the feed pile for delivery to livestock.
Known silage pile defacers comprise a hydraulically actuated rotating cylinder with radially extending teeth carried on a tractor-mounted implement. The implement is maneuvered to draw the rotating cylinder along a vertical face of the silage pile to remove a layer of the silage. The known silage pile defacers necessitate frequent maintenance to repair/replace worn parts. The teeth of the rotating cylinder of the known silage pile defacers also grinds the silage as it removes the silage from the pile, which creates silage “fines.” Excess silage fines are undesirable in feed for dairy cows.
The present invention provides an improved silage pile defacer with no moving parts that does not grind the silage.